Ceilling joint sander



July 10, 1956 L. A. LARsoN 2,753,669

CEILING JOINT SANDER Filed March 28. 1955 United States Patent() CEILING JOINT SANDER Leonard A. Larson, Farnhamville, Iowa Application March 28, 1955, Serial No. 497,000

6 Claims. (Cl. 51-187) This invention relates in general to sanders, and more particularly to ceiling sanders for the sanding of ceiling joints in dry wall construction.

Heretofore, ceiling joints have been sanded by hand with a sanding block, which is a very tiresome job. The sanding dust falls in the eyes of an operator, the reaching and pushing of the sanding block at the same time causes a great deal of fatigue, thus lessening the efficiency of the operator.

Therefore, it is the primary object of this invention to provide a ceiling joint sander that can be operated from floor level without undue reaching by the operator and from one side thereof, whereby falling of the dust onto the operator is prevented.

Another object of this invention is to provide a ceiling sander that will have a standard or leg so disposed on the ceiling sander as to carry the weight of the sanding head and at the same time apply pressure to the sanding head in order that the operation of sanding a ceiling will be less tiresome.

A further object of this invention is to provide a ceiling sander that is light in Weight, easily manipulated and upon which the abrasive paper is easily changed.

A still further object of this invention is to provide a ceiling sander which has interchangeable sanding heads, one being hand operated and the other being electrically operated.

These, together with other objects and advantages which will become subsequently apparent reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the ceiling sander shown in operating position;

Figure 2 is an enlarged transverse sectional view taken substantially along section line 2-2 of Figure 1 with parts of the handle broken away;

Figure 3 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view of the ceiling sander taken substantially along section line 3 3 of Figure 2, parts of the sander head being broken away; and

Figure 4 is a perspective view of the electrical sanding head with lower portions of the support and handle being omitted.

Referring now to the drawings in detail, it will be seen that the sander, which is the subject of this invention, includes a sanding head, which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 10. The sanding head is supported in sanding position by a standard, which is referred to in general by the reference numeral 12, and is actuated by a depending handlerreferred to in general by the numeral 14.

As is best illustrated in Figure 3, the sanding head 10 is composed of two layers, a solid block 16 and a pad 18 overlying the block 16 and serving as a backing ice material for a sandpaper sheet 20. The sandpaper sheet 20 is held on opposite ends 22 and 24 of the block 16 by means of clips 26 and 28 which are spring urged into engagement with the ends 22 and 24 by means of springs 30 and 32, respectively.

On a lower side of the sanding head 10 is affixed an adapter plate 36 which is centrally located on the sanding head 10 and has formed integrally therewith a radially extending strap 38. A downwardly curving flexible leaf spring 40 is suitably attached in underlying relationship to the strap 38. The spring 40 serves as a flexible connector between the sanding head 10 and an elongated center portion 42 of the handle 14 which extends outwardly and downwardly a suicient distance to allow the operator of the sander to actuate the head 10 while standing on the floor. A suitable hand grip 44 is provided at the outer end 46 of the handle 14 for easy gripping thereof.

As is best illustrated in Figure 2, there is centrally attached to the plate 36 two depending ears 48 and 50 which are so disposed as to receive an upper tubular portion 52 of standard 12. The tubular portion 52 is pivotally mounted between the ears 48 and 50 by means of a pivot pin 51. The standard 12 also includes a lower, elongated, tubular portion 54 which is slidably received in the upper portion 52. The upper portion 52 and the lower portion 54 are urged in opposite directions by a coil spring 56. The length of the standard 12 and the pressure on the sanding head 10 may be increased or decreased by selectively placing a stop pin 58 in one of a series of stop pin holes 60 formed in the upper portion 52 at vertical intervals, as shown in Figure 3.

As is illustrated in Figure 4, the plate 36 may be removed from the sanding head 10 by removing fasteners 61 shown in Figure 3 and replaced on an electric sanding head 62 which is a conventional type and needs no further explanation.

In the operation of the ceiling sander, it is raised to' an elevated position with the sanding head supported in engagement with the joint to be sanded by the standard 12 and with the handle 14 in line with the joint. The hand grip 44 is grasped and a movement parallel to the ceiling and in line with the joint is imparted thereto. The standard 12 is so constructed whereby the sander is retained against the ceiling at the necessary sanding pressure. The spring 40 allows for slight vertical movement of the handle 14 without changing the face-to-face relationship of the sanding head and the ceiling and, as previously explained, the pivotal attachment between the leg 12 and the sanding head 10 allows for movement of the sanding head 10 parallel to the ceiling joint. The operation of the sanding head 62 differs from that of the sanding head 10 only in that it need not be reciprocated, but is merely guided through the use of the handle 14. v

The foregoing is considered as illustrative only of the principles of the invention. Further, since numerous modifications and changes will readily occur to those skilled in the art, it is not desired to limit the invention to the exact construction and operation shown and described, and accordingly, all suitable modifications and equivalents may be resorted to, falling within the scope of the invention as claimed.

What is claimed as new is as follows:

l. A ceiling joint sander comprising a sanding head, a standard pivotally mounted on said sanding head, the lower end of said standard being engageable with a floor to hold said sanding head in engagement with a ceiling, a handle depending from said sanding head remote from said standard whereby said handle may be manually manipulated by a person in normal standing position to impart a desired sanding movement to said head, said standard being in the form of telescoped sections resiliently urged apart to resiliently retain said sanding head in a sanding position, said handle being resiliently mounted on said sanding head to provide for variations of hand movements during operation of said sanding head without disengaging said head from full contact with the ceiling.

2. A ceiling joint sander comprising a sanding head, an adapter plate detachably pivotally mounted on said sanding head, the lower end of a standard mounted on said adapter plate, said standard being engageable with a oor to hold said sanding head in engagement with a ceiling, a handle depending from said adapter plate for manually manipulating said sanding head, said standard being in the form of telescoped sections lresiliently urged apart to resiliently retain said sanding head in a sanding position, said handle being resiliently mounted on said adapter plate to provide for variations of hand movements during operation of said sanding head without disengaging said head from full contact with the ceiling, the upper end of said standard upon manipulation of said handle describing an arcuate path with the lower end of said standard remaining relatively stationary.

3. A support for a ceiling joint sanding head, said support comprising an adapted plate adapted to support a sanding head, a standard pivotally mounted on said adapter plate, said standard being in the form of telescoped sections resiliently urged apart, `a handle depending from said adapter plate, said handle being resiliently mounted on said adapter plate, remote from said stan* dard whereby said handle may be manually manipulated by a person in normal standing position to impart a desired sanding movement to said head.

4. A ceiling joint sander comprising a sanding head, a standard pivotally mounted on said sanding head, the lower end of said standard being engageable with a floor to hold said sanding head in engagement with a ceiling, a handle depending from said sanding head remote from said standard whereby said handle may be manually manipulated by a person in normal standing position to impart a desired sanding movement to said head.

5. A ceiling joint sander comprising a sanding head, a standard pivotally mounted on said sanding head, the lower end of said standard being engageable with a floor to hold said sanding head in engagement with a ceiling, a handle depending from said sanding head remote from said standard whereby said handle may be manually manipulated by a person Vin normal standing position to impart the desired sanding movement to said head, said standard being in the -form `of telescoped sections resiliently urged apart to resiliently retain said sanding head in a sanding position, the `upper end of `said standard, upon manipulation of said handle, describing an arcuate path with the lower end of said standard remaining relatively stationary.

6. A ceiling joint sander comprising a sanding head, a standard pivotally mounted on said sanding head, the lower end of said standard being engageable with a lloor to hold said sanding head in engagement with a ceiling, a handle depending from said sanding head remote from said standard whereby said handle may be manually manipulated by a person in normal standing position to impart a desired sanding movement to said head, the upper end of said standard, upon manipulation of said handle, describing an arcuate path with the lower endof said standard remaining relatively stationary, said handle being resiliently mounted on said sanding head to provide for variations of hand movements during operation of said sanding head without disengagement of said head from full contact with the ceiling.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,044,423 Rosa Nov. 12, 1912 1,224,457 Gleckner May 1, 1917 1,919,854 Masseau July 25, 1933 2,312,189 Petley Feb. 23, 1943 2,475,476 Champayne July 5, 1949 2,670,577 McDonough Mar. 21, 1954 2,688,827 Hobday Sept. 14, 1954 

